At the Heart of Ducati

HEADING BY CAR to the headquarters of Ducati Motor Holding SpA, on the outskirts of Bologna, you encounter the kind of twisting, curvy roads a Ducati owner might dream of riding.

It isn't surprising that this setting, at the base of the Tuscan Apennine Mountains in what is the heart of northern Italy's Motor Valley, is home to Ducati's factory and museum. An unassuming set of glass, chrome and concrete buildings, picked out with...